Drying machine



Oct. 19 1926. Y 1,603,810

w. w. S|BSON DRYING MACHINE Filed or. 2o. 1920 zsheets-shem, a

Patented @et 19, 1926.

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WALTER W. SIBSON, l0F PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANTA, ASSIGNOR TO THE ,PHILA- DELEHA. DRYTNGMACHNEBY. COMPANY, OFiPHILADEL-IA, .PENNSYLVANHL A CORlEORATION OF PENNSYLVANIA.

, parme :MACHINE The invention relates to drying` machines, and more particularly to machines for drying*A china, porcelain, crockery, etc. lryi'ng machines of the latter type are vusually in the iform oli' enclosures within -which the` air is heated, and, in order to hastentlie drying' action, circulated so` asto impinge upon the materials under treatment.` At the same time, Vthe materials are slowly progressed through the enclosure by suitable supporting means usually in the form ot endless conveyors. `Tt has been heretofore generally customary to loadv and unload vsuch machines respectively through openings at opposite ends. l/Vhile satisfactory in some respects, this arrangement has always been open to the objection that the operatives in charge o'litheloafding and unloading were at a. diS- advantage in so ifar as team work is concerned, on account of the remoteness olf their respective stations. This, it will 'be seen, roflten necessitated stoppage of the machine to enable one or the other of the operatives ,to catch up.

One object ot my invention is to obviate the disadvantage pointed out above, and this T accomplish byproviding' both for loading' and unloading' at one and the same end of themachine, so that the operatives may work in unison, and the machine, lwithout any difiiculty,vmay be kept running` and loaded to "full capacity under direct supervision of the chief operative or" the team. ,'Bymy inventioml also obviate-to a great extent, the diiliculty ot preventing the escape ot the circulated air from within the machine.

Other advantages of my invention will become readily apparent from the detailed description which follows.

ln the drawings, Fig. I is a. longitudinal sectional view more or less 'diagrannnatically representing a drying machine conveniently embodying' my invention.

lig. ll is a similar view ot a slightly modi'lied 'form-,ot the same.

Referring first to the 'form illustrated in Fig. lf, the machine there shown is in-the torlno'f an enclosure `l, ,which comprises a skeleton structure`2serviceable as a mountingtfor metallic sheathing or paneling ,soy as to afford as a whole,a fire prooi structure aiter the usualpractice in this art. Traveling` acircuitous course, (intl'iisinstance. a series oit ,vertical loops), through the` enclosure is an endless conveyor,representedcom ventionally in dot and dash linesat 3. This conveyor is similar to the one shown and described in aPatent No. 1,322,279 granted to T rillsop and W. W. SibsomNovember `18, 1919, and likewise comprises apair of end-l less chains which run over sprockets 44- at opposite sides of ,the enclosure, which definitely determine the course Of ,theconveyor. Between said chains of the conveyor 3 are hungl carriers 5provided with one or more shelves or traysy 6-6the Vattachment ot said carriers being` suchas permit ready swinging `aboutthe various sprocketsl of the system. vFrom the illustration, lit will be noted that a portion ofthe conveyor circuit yis wholly exposed at the exterior of theenclosure, and that the sprockets 7 by which this externalportion of the rcircuitis detervmined are mounted on an appropriate eX- tension 8 of ythe structural ,trame ,2 of the machine. Forthepassage of the carriers 5 of the conveyor 3 through the end wall 11, thereare providedopenings 9 and 10 near its top. `The exterior portionof the conveyor 3, it will be seen, extendslirst horizontally outward overheadand then downwardlyfin the form of avvertical loop, so as to be lconveniently accessible both orloading and unloading'. Unloading is accomplished `at A ,where the operativek thereistationed removes the molds containing the driedarticles from the conveyor carriers 5 andplaces them upon ,a Vtruck or other suitable conveyance (notshown) -by which; they maybe transferred to other parts of the manufacturing` plant for succeeding' operations which are to be performedupon them. The molds containing the articles to be dried are loaded upon the conveyor carriers through an opening l5 in the endwall 11 ofthe enclosurel bv the chief operative vor jiggerman stationedat (l. There is`l also `a station B provided for an assistant or helper. `By this 3 as driven by means of a worm gear connection 13 operative upon the shaft 12 of the sprockets atA the upper right-hand end of the structure. rlhe worm gear connection 13 may be connected, in any approved manner, with a driving pulley 14.

The enclosure 1 is subdivided by a centrally located partition 2O into two sections 21, 22, said partition terminating short of both the top and bottom of the enclosure to afford passages for air circulation. Spanned between the top edge of the partition 20 and the end wall 23 is a horizontal diaphragm or partition 24 having an opening 25 within which revolves a rotary fan 26. The shaft 27 of this fan extends to the exterior to afford attachment for a pulley 28, which may be constantly driven from any convenient source of power. By rotation of the fan 2G, the air will be driven' over a general longitudinal course between the subdivisions 21 and 22 of the enclosure in a manner clearly suggested by the arrows in the illustration. Obviously, reverse rotation of the fan 26 will cause circulation in a direction counter to that indicated. For the purpose of preventing the escape of the circulating airthrough the openings 9, 10 in the end wall 11, 1 have provided an auxiliary vertical partition 30 which yis spaced from said end wall. This partition 30 forms av channel 31 through which the initial run of the conveyor 3 within the enclosure 1 passes. vThe escape ofsmall amounts of the circulated air through the openings 10 and 15 is readily compensated for by free ini'iux through the opening' 9 under suction of the fan 26. The air in the enclosure is heated by means of pipe coils 32 at intervals in its length, and preferably between adjacent runs of the conveyor 3. Vhen the nature of the articles being dried is such as to require a certain amount of humidilication for pro-per treatment, the necessary moisture may be supplied from a spray pipe 33, which Vin the present instance is shown as extending along the bottom of the enclosure 1.

Referring now to the type of my invention shown in F ig. 11, it will be seen that the general arrangement of the conveyor circuit is the saine as that described in connection with the previous form, and for this reason, 1 have emplo-yed the same reference numerals to designate the various corresponding elements. In this case, however, the interior arrangement of the enclosure is somewhat different. The course of air circulation set up by the fan 35 and indicated by the arrows-is determined by partitions and 37 which are joined by a horizontal diaphragm 38 within an opening 39 of which the fan 35 runs. The partitions 36 and 37, it will be seen, termina-te short of the bottom of the enclosure to afford passages, in the one case, for the entry of the conveyor carriers 5 into the iield of the fan 5, and in the other, to allow for the passage of the air in circulating. The partition 36 furthermore extends to the very top of the enclosure 1 for a` purpose which will become apparent presently. 'lhe course of the circulation set up by the fan 35 is obvious from the arrows, without necessity for further detailed description. rIthe pipe coils 32 serve to heat the air as before. The auxiliary partition shown at 10 serves the same general purpose as the partition 30 of the iirst embodiment. By cooperation with the partition 3G, furthermore, this affords besides the channel 31 for the iirst run of the conveyor, a second channel l1, which is neutral in so far as the air circulation is concerned, and serves to prevent escape of the air through the openings in the end wall 11.

1t is to be particularly noted in connection with both embodiments of my invention that while traveling through the machine, the articles under treatment are impinged upon y the air from various angles as the conveyor carriers move from one position to another, thus insuring thorough and complete drying. It is also to be noted that practically the entire run of the conveyor 3 upon the interior is utilized for drying the wares, and further, that by having the openings 9, 10 and 15, only atk one end of the machine, through drafts are entirely eliminated, thus lessening the tendency of the heated air to escape and incidentally making it more comfortable for the operatives to work at the machine. These features, it will be seen, serve collectively to increase the gen-eral efficiency of the drier to a very appreciable extent.

Having thus described my invention, I claim: I

1. 1n a drying machine, an enclosure, an endless conveyor, and means affording support at one end thereof to establish a vertically looped and wholly exposed interval of travel in advance of said enclosure, whereby the operations of forming, feeding-in and unloading are effected in close relation.

2. 1n a drying machine, an enclosure, an endless conveyor, and means to establish a wholly exposed angularly looped interval of travel for the conveyor in advance of said enclosure, whereby loading and unloading are effected in close juxtaposition.

3. In a drying machine, an enclosure, an endless conveyor, and a framework at one end of said enclosure provided with means, whereby a portion of the conveyor circuit is CTR caused to traverse a looped and Wholly eX- posed course in advance of said enclosure, so that loading and unloading` are elected in close relation.

ll. In a drying machine including* an enclosure and an endless conveyor, the combination of an extension framework and means whereby a portion of the conveyor circuit is caused to traverse a looped and Wholly eX- posed course in advance of the enclosure.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto signed my name at Philadelphia, Pennsy1- Vania, this 14th day of October 1920.

WALTER W. SIBSON. 

